A review by tasharobinson
Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney

4.0

I've seen so many body-snatchers movies, but I'd never read the original book until now. It's worth the time. It's a quick read, and a quaint one, very much of its time, with its look at 1950s small-town America, where a single doctor can cover all the people in town, but is expected to be available for housecalls 24/7, and where everyone essentially knows each other. There are so many really smart symbols going on here, as a few people realize their beloved little town is changing into something they don't recognize: fear of the other, fear of change, fear of isolation, fear of growing up. It's a terrific little story, and possibly the only body-snatchers story in this particular vein that I've encountered that has a happy ending, or even implies that there can be one. Though I never realized how closely Stephen King's The Tommyknockers followed this book, right up to the ending itself.